Jessica Pierce: The Last Walk: Caring for Our Animal Companions

Bioethicist and author Jessica Pierce will discuss end-of-life care, dying, and euthanasia in the lives of our companion animals.https://thekeep.eiu.edu/humanitiescenter_authenticity1314/1003/thumbnail.jp

Jessica Pierce: The Last Walk: Caring for Our Animal Companions

Bioethicist and author Jessica Pierce will discuss end-of-life care, dying, and euthanasia in the lives of our companion animals.https://thekeep.eiu.edu/humanitiescenter_authenticity1314/1003/thumbnail.jp

Understanding animal suicide and death can lead to better end-of-life care

Peña-Guzmán’s target article on animal suicide will help inform end-of-life care for animals by emphasizing the need for a broad research focus on animal thanatology. Greater scientific understanding of the continuum of death-related awareness, experiences, and behaviors will help us improve veterinary care for animals at the end of life

Examination of the Pediatric Diabetes Routines Questionnaire in Adolescents: Development of an Adolescent Self-Report Version and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Previous literature suggests a positive relationship between general child routines and diabetes treatment adherence. However, research examining routines specific to the diabetes regimen is lacking. Recently, the Pediatric Diabetes Routines Questionnaire (PDRQ) was developed as a parent-report measure of diabetes-specific routines for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Though the PDRQ has provided a means to measure routines specific to the diabetes regimen, limitations exist in regard to its use with adolescents. Thus, the goals of this study were to develop and evaluate a parallel adolescent self-report version (PDRQ: Adolescent; PDRQ:A) of the PDRQ and to examine the psychometric properties of the PDRQ (now PDRQ: Parent, PDRQ:P) and PDRQ:A in a large sample of adolescents. Confirmatory factor analysis was also conducted to evaluate factorial validity. Participants included 120 parent-adolescent dyads (ages 12 to 17) and an additional 24 parents only. Participants completed the PDRQ:P/A, as well as a series of questionnaires on general adolescent routines, diabetes treatment adherence, diabetes-specific family support, and diabetes-specific family conflict to evaluate the reliability and validity of the PDRQ:P/A. The predicted factor solutions were not confirmed; however, a solid one-factor model (PDRQ:P/A Total Routines score) was supported and included three new items. Additionally, the PDRQ:P/A demonstrated good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability, and adequate validity coefficients. Overall, promising results for the PDRQ:P/A were found. Recommendations for scoring and use of the PDRQ:P/A are discussed

Wild Justice - Honor and Fairness Among Beasts at Play

This essay challenges science’s traditional taboo against anthropomorphizing animals or considering their behavior as indicative of feelings similar to human emotions. In their new book Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals, the authors argue that anthropomorphism is alive and well, as it should be. Here they describe some activities of animals, particularly animals at play, as clear signs that they have recognizable emotions and moral intelligence. Based on years of behavioral and cognitive research, the authors discuss in their book that animals exhibit a broad repertoire of moral behaviors, including empathy and cooperation, but here they concentrate on the fairness and trust so essential to any kind of play, animal or human. They contend that underneath this behavior lays a complex range of emotions, backed by a high degree of intelligence and surprising behavioral flexibility. Animals, they find, are incredibly adept social beings. They rely on rules of conduct in their play, just as do humans, which in turn, helps prepare animals for dealing with the intricate social networks that are essential to their survival. The authors conclude that there is no moral gap between humans and other species. As the play of animals helps to make clear, morality is an evolved trait humans unquestionably share with other social mammals

Animal welfare cannot adequately protect nonhuman animals: The need for a science of animal well-being

A focus on animal welfare in the use of nonhuman animals in the service of human economic and scientific interests does not and cannot adequately protect (nonhuman) animals. It presupposes that using other animals for human ends is acceptable as long as we try our best to improve the welfare of the animals we use. We argue instead for a “science of animal well-being” in which the protection of animal needs is not subordinated to human economic or scientific interests

Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice in Animals and Why It Matters

Social justice in animals is beginning to attract interest in a broad range of academic disciplines. Justice is an important area of study because it may help explain social dynamics among individuals living in tightly- knit groups, as well as social interactions among individuals who only occasionally meet. In this paper, we provide an overview of what is currently known about social justice in animals and offer an agenda for further research. We provide working definitions of key terms, outline some central research questions, and explore some of the challenges of studying social justice in animals, as well as the promise of the work we’re proposing. Finally, we suggest why continued research into animal cognition and social behavior has significant ethical implications for our treatment of nonhuman animals

Designing Healthy Communities VIP: Nampa Community Health Assessment Model Profile - Social Determinants of Health (CHAMP-SDOH)

The Designing Healthy Communities VIP is a partnership between the Boise State Anthropology Department and the St. Luke’s Applied Research Division. Our team of Boise State students and St. Luke’s researchers are conducting qualitative user experience research in Nampa, Idaho. Phase one of our project consists of investigating the social determinants of health affecting patient access to healthcare through surveys and interviews. Phase two of our project is comprised of observing the patient clinical experience in St. Luke’s Nampa community clinics. Our mission is to collect data on what challenges our fellow community members in Nampa experience while using the St. Luke’s services available to them. St. Luke’s hopes to incorporate this knowledge into their systems, policies, and community clinics to better serve the Nampa population

Structural aging of the utricular macula in mice

CBA/CaJ is a mouse strain that has no known genetic mutations affecting the inner ear, thereby serving as a control model for auditory and vestibular aging. C57BL/6J and CE/J mouse strains carry the genetic mutation Cdh23753A (Ahl), which results in early-onset, age-related hearing loss. CBA/CaJ and CE/J mice both exhibit an age-related decline in gravity receptor function, with function declining at a considerably faster rate in the CE/J strain than in the CBA/CaJ strain. C57BL/6J mice exhibit minimal declines in gravity receptor function with age. The purpose of this study was to characterize the effect of age on three structures within the utricle of the inner ear; hair cells, synaptic ribbons, and post-synaptic receptor sites - all of which are critical to sensory transduction, and compare structural aging with gravity receptor functional data across the lifespan. Utricles were dissected, stained with CtBP2 (marker for hair cell nuclei and synaptic ribbons) and Shank1a (marker for post-synaptic receptor sites), and imaged using confocal microscopy. Structures were quantified and averaged over four distinct areas of the utricle at several age points across the lifespan. For the CBA/CaJ strain, the number of hair cells and CtBP2 per hair cell declined by the oldest age group while Shank1a and synaptic colocalization counts per hair cell remained relatively stable across the lifespan. All structures measured for the C57BL/6J and CE/J strains were maintained with age. When compared with aging gravity receptor functional data, structural results for the CBA/CaJ and C57BL/6J strains were relatively consistent with their corresponding function. Maintenance of structural elements as observed for CE/J mice is disparate from severe age-related gravity receptor dysfunction observed for this strain. Overall, results suggest that presynaptic elements may play a role in normal age-related gravity receptor dysfunction while the presence of Ahl does not appear to result in a significant loss of vestibular structure with age. Additional influences must be responsible for age-related declines in gravity receptor function observed in the CE/J strain.  Ph.D

Translating Neurobiological Knowledge into Trauma-Informed Occupational Therapy

There is a growing need for an expanded understanding of the experience of trauma in light of many socio-political and cultural events of the previous years. Occupational therapy literature mentions a growing understanding of neuroscience that is leading to trauma-informed protocol reform, however, consistently concludes with the acknowledgment that more information is needed. The purpose of this project was to advocate for occupation as a significant tool in addressing traumatic stress. This project included a scoping review of non-peer-reviewed and peer-reviewed literature and manuscripts as well as a phenomenological qualitative research study interviewing occupational therapy practitioners who work with individuals who have experienced trauma. Preliminary results revealed four major themes, first, the significance of occupation for individuals who have experienced trauma is currently underrepresented/underexplored. Second, therapists and staff members often make judgments during interventions that reveal an incomplete understanding of how to identify a trauma response. Third, there is a need for a universal approach to all therapeutic interactions that acknowledge the ubiquitousness and pervasiveness of trauma. Finally, the neurobiology of trauma is a central component of occupational engagement. Results reveal that understanding how neurobiological mechanisms are involved in the therapeutic process will inform better trauma-informed practice for occupational therapists.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstones-spring2022/1046/thumbnail.jp